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Semen Plantaginis (Cheqianzi)
Clears pathogenic fire and guides it downward. Reaches the lower jiao (Zhou Du, referring to the Bladder) to expel damp-heat. Its flavor is sweet and nature is cold, possessing descending and purgative properties; it specializes in clearing the water passages and curing strangury (Ling Lin). It treats seminal emission during dreams caused by liver heat disturbing the essence; it guides out various retained turbidities from the kidney region, and once the turbidities are cleared, deficiency returns. Its slippery nature can facilitate childbirth, and its black color can enter the blood level to invigorate blood. (Semen Plantaginis is sweet, cold, and slippery; its nature specializes in descending and draining, thus having the efficacy of removing damp-heat and promoting urination. Moreover, its black color allows it to enter the blood level, treating conditions such as bloody strangury and obstetric disorders, utilizing its slippery and lubricating properties. The ancient poem says, "Gathering plantains," referring to Plantago asiatica, implying that women rejoice at bearing children due to its ease of delivery. This herb has a sweet taste with a slight salty note, differing from bitter and acrid flavors, and possesses a sticky and slippery nature. Hence, ancients described it as "descending without exhausting, moving without depleting." However, it is suitable only for cases of kidney deficiency with exogenous heat. For individuals with yang deficiency and cold, or sinking of primordial qi, it should be contraindicated.)

Herba Siegesbeckiae (Xuzhong)
Enters the Bladder channel, specializing in separating and eliminating turbidity. Its descending and purgative efficacy leans towards transforming damp-turbidity. It acts on the Spleen and Lung channels to treat scabies and sores. Its flavor is bitter and nature is neutral, with a drying property that kills parasites and treats sores. (Herba Siegesbeckiae often grows by roadsides, also known as Bianzhu. It resembles bamboo in shape, spreading on the ground, with powder between the nodes and flowers like spikes. Its bitter and neutral nature is good at dispelling damp-heat and killing various parasites. Observing the indications in the *Shennong Bencao Jing* regarding the treatment of oozing sores, scabies, carbuncles, hemorrhoids, and killing three types of parasites, one can infer its efficacy.)

Caulis Junci (Dengxin)
Clears vexation and steaming heat from the Heart and Lungs. Its flavor is bland, nature is cold, texture is light, and color is white. It guides damp-heat from the Small Intestine downward, unblocking strangury and promoting diuresis through descending action. (Caulis Junci is white in color and light in weight, with efficacy specializing in entering the Lung channel. Because its cold nature clears heat and its bland flavor separates and eliminates, it can remove damp-heat and unblock the water passages. Also, corresponding to the Heart, it can enter the Heart channel. It can be used for any condition where upper jiao damp-heat causes strangury and similar disorders. To prepare Dengxin Tan (Charred Caulis Junci): pack firm Caulis Junci into a bamboo tube, burn until red hot, and smolder until it turns into black ash. To grind into powder, soak in rice flour paste, sun-dry, then grind; take the floating particles when mixed with water.)